Late Night Walk
by editorbit
Summary: Harry is sleepy for once, but goes on his usual trip to the kitchens to get hot chocolate anyway. Hot chocolate is definitely the reason he's out of bed.


Harry Potter had been sleepy as he went to bed that night. He hadn't been this sleepy before having his cup of hot chocolate in ages. It was strange. It was almost like he didn't have to drink some hot chocolate to be able to fall asleep. He still went down to the kitchens though. For the hot chocolate obviously. It was delicious, with the perfect taste of chocolate and not too sweet. He did definitely not think of a certain someone as he made his way down the halls and down the stairs and this certain someone was definitely not blond, pale or a Slytherin. He did definitely not get out of bed in hopes of him being up as well.

He had to admit he wouldn't mind meeting him though, Draco Malfoy that is. He was oddly civil at night, maybe due to lack of sleep and his little entourage that usually followed him all day. Harry would almost say he was nice. Almost. He was still a bit snarky, but what did he expect? It was Draco Malfoy after all. It was also a bit awkward. Neither of them were very used to being this nice to each other, if you could call it nice, it was more polite than nice.

He didn't see the blond, neither on his way down to the kitchen nor on his way back. He was probably asleep, and if he wasn't he was most likely still outside on his usual walk. It took him a moment to realise where his feet were taking him, which was not up those stairs towards the common room, but rather back downstairs. Before he knew it he was standing outside in the cold winter night, the door shutting behind him as he looked around. It was pitch dark and if it wasn't for the light from his wand, he wouldn't have seen anything.

There was a light further away and Harry should probably have put his own light out, but he knew, and hoped, that whoever was outside at this hour wasn't a professor, but rather Draco Malfoy. First of all, why would a professor be outside in the cold in the middle of the night? It wasn't like all the students got up at night to go out and freeze. Second of all, Draco always, at least almost always, went on walks outside at night no matter how cold it was, how much it was raining or how deep the snow was.

And he was right, it was him. He recognised that mop of white blond hair that was almost glistening in the light from his wand and that pointy, defined face. Draco noticed him before Harry even took his first step towards him. Too bad, it was fun to scare him, until he threatened to punch him if he kept doing it that is.

Draco stood and waited, watching as Harry walked over to him, not saying anything. He hadn't seemed very surprised to see him. Harry had said he'd come with him sometime, sometime being tonight. The Slytherin started walking again just as Harry approached him and Harry quickly followed before he got left behind.

"I didn't see you on my way down to the kitchens," Harry said after a moment of just walking in silence. Draco glanced at him. "I went early. Had a lot to think about," he replied. "Oh." It got silence again and they continued to walk in silence. Harry wanted to ask what Draco was thinking about since he couldn't sleep, wondering if it was anything like what he was thinking about, but wasn't sure if he'd get an answer. They'd had some encounters at night that lasted just a few minutes, they weren't best friends. This was still the same Draco who threw insults at him and his friends whenever he got the opportunity.

Draco beat him to it, surprisingly. "What's keeping you up at night then, Potter?", he asked, stopping. Harry stopped as well, watching as Draco took a seat on a bench Harry hadn't even noticed was there until now. He took a seat as well, not sitting too close, but not too far away either.

"Oh, you know, the usual," he replied. "There's all the homework we're getting bombarded with, all the exams that are coming up that I need to study for, some tests as well. Not only that, there's also.." He took a look at Draco who was looking back at him, waiting for him to continue. "You know.."

"I don't actually."

"There's also everything with.. Voldemort." Draco looked away, fiddling with the wand and looking out into the dark night. "Oh." It got silent once again and Harry wish he hadn't mentioned it. If he hadn't, they could have been having a conversation right now, maybe about that Potions essay due next week or how difficult the Charms test last week had been.

"What about you?" Harry eventually asked, trying to start a conversation again. "What's on your mind?" Draco shrugged. "What you said," he said, still not looking at him.

They sat there for a while in silence, neither of them saying anything else even as they continued their walk that eventually lead them back to the door leading inside. Harry opened the door, letting Draco go in first before following. Without a word the two got under Harry's invisibility cloak and a while later the two were standing just outside the Slytherin common room. Harry hadn't offered taking him there, nor had Draco asked. They had just somehow shared the same idea.

"Hey," Harry said and Draco stoped in his tracks, just about to get inside and get back to bed before anyone noticed he was gone. "Yeah?" He raised an eyebrow.

"If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me."

"The kitchens with a cup of hot chocolate and your cloak?"

"Of course." Harry couldn't stop his lips curling up into a smile, but it was fine. Draco's did the same.

"Thanks, Harry."

"No problem, Draco."


End file.
